The Misadventures of the MISTcreants
by Neo the Saiyan angel
Summary: Before the posse from Middleton Institute of Science and Technology went out into the world to eventually become geniuses on all things geeky, they were students, curious about things...that they shouldn't mess with. These are their messed-up adventures.
1. RF16

"And this area, students, is where the advanced research is conducted," a burly, hairy, and very tired looking professor more or less grunted, his eyes half closed from boredom and his body slouching in an unbecoming manner. He had drawn the short straw and was currently guiding the underclassmen through the area where the graduate students and the staff worked on their various experiments. It was supposed to be one of those 'inspirational' things, but most found it to be a waste of time, himself included. And it showed.

"This," he waved his hand in the general direction of a large tub of purple goo, "is known as the substance RF-16. It's a compound that's supposed to absorb, store, and enhance the kinetic energy of something with a simple coating. However, the side effects are still troublesome and it doesn't increase the energy by a statistically significant amount. While not dangerous, the side effects are most certainly enough to keep it from being usable in today's world."

He sighed again, obviously not appreciating the fact that he was stuck being a tour guide for a bunch of snobby underclassmen, and rubbed his head. Remembering that the torture wasn't over yet, and noticing that some of their eyes were wandering to the more sensitive (and expensive) pieces of equipment, he let out another sigh and directed them out through the back door of the room to continue the tour. Because he was so unfocused on staying awake and paying attention, he didn't notice the four familiar undergraduate students that had hung back and were now examining the goo with an unhealthy amount of curiosity.

"So how do you suppose this works?" James said as he scratched his chin in wonder. "My bet is on nanomachines."

"Nanomachines? Bah! James, can't you come up with something a _little_ more creative?" Drew bent over so that he was only a few inches away from the goo and sniffed it a little. He straightened up and rubbed his nose a little. "I'm putting my money on some sort of chemical enhancement."

"A chemical?!" Ramesh burst out in obvious surprise. "What would make you think-" He was cut off by James's hand over his mouth.

"Hush! Do you WANT to get caught?" Drew grumbled to his poofy-haired friend. It was interesting how he managed to say that while scowling and grinding his teeth in annoyance.

"And _how_ would that work exactly?" Chen muttered, continuing the conversation from earlier. He said the rest of his thoughts on Drew's idea of what RF-16 was with an extra dose of sarcasm. "I suppose it uses magical fairy dust to make whatever it touches turn to adamantium? Or maybe it gives you some sort of super power?"

"I haven't heard _you_ say anything to try to explain this stuff!" Drew hissed back at his friend.

"Weeeellll…it could be some sort of alien substance," Chen said as he scratched the back of his neck. The other three just stared at him like he had just had a micro black hole eat his head. "What? It could happen. We don't know what's out there." The three of them looked at each other, then burst into unruly laughter. "Hey now! Mine's better than Drew's theory!"

"Th-theory?" Ramesh choked out between giggle fits. "That's n-not a theory."

"Really, Chen," James said, wiping his eye. Although he had recovered from what Chen suggested, Drew was still almost rolling around on the floor, barely able to stay on his feet from the force of his laughing. "You know by now that it's just a hypothesis at this point. We haven't even touched it yet!" Now Drew was balancing some of his weight on the barrel that held the compound they were arguing about.

"Do you think perhaps that little gray men dropped it off?" Ramesh said.

"Don't you mean…little green men?" James managed to choke out before the two of them rejoined Drew in the fits of laughter. Chen was not amused. He frowned at his friends, trying to find some way to turn this around.

"If that's how you want to play," Chen started, seeing an opportunity to get back at one of them, at least, "then how about we try it?" He then kicked Drew's legs out from under him, causing him to fall forward into the tub of goo.

To Drew's credit, he managed to shift his weight so that the barrel didn't tip over. However, that caused most of his hair, forehead, and arms to fall into the goop before he fell backwards onto the floor. That took the mirth out of James and Ramesh quickly.

"Chen! What were you thinking?! You heard Professor Kwatch; the side effects for this stuff is nothing to joke about." James bent down to help his fallen friend, giving Chen a glare that said exactly the same thing.

"You guys are the ones that brought it up. I just responded," Chen countered. "Maybe if you guys hadn't-"

"Hey, Drew, you okay?" James grabbed his friend by the non-goo covered part of his arm and pulled him to his feet. Drew blinked a couple of times in confusion, still a bit out of it from the unexpected trip he took to the floor.

"I…think so. But this feels SO funky," he said, looking at his arms and twisting his face into a grimace. "Ugh…is it in my hair? It had better not ruin my bangs! I haven't had to brush my hair since pre-K!" He gingerly touched his hair, flinching when he found it to be one large pile of goop. His face, which he turned toward Chen, went from the grimace to a toothy scowl. "We don't know what this stuff does! What if it turns me all sorts of weird, creepy colors or…or turns me into cheese! Or-"

"Or makes you attractive to women?" Chen cut in, still sore from the earlier laughing. This made everyone except for Drew giggle.

"Hey now, I might be able to find someone," he replied indignantly, his face turning a light pink. "I mean, there's someone out there for everyone, isn't there?"

"Sure…one of the green women that brought the goo may be willing to go out with you," Ramesh giggled. Instead of taking offense at Ramesh bringing up the aliens again, Chen started to belly laugh, resting his upper body on the counter.

"Yes, haha, let's laugh at Drew's inability to get a date," Drew said with no trace of laughter in his voice. "It's not like any of _you_ have had any luck in that department." That stopped their laughter cold, which seemed to satisfy him. Remembering his predicament, he added, "Now help me get this stuff off!"

"Oh no, Drew, you go ahead and take care of it. I'm not going to risk being a guinea pig." James took a step back, waving his arms in front of him as if to ward him off. The other men followed suit. Grumbling about worthless friends, Drew proceeded to tear the purplish goo from his hair, forehead, and forearms. A few seconds passed with bated breath. Then everyone let it out.

"Well, it looks like-" Drew started. He suddenly stopped and got an odd look on his face.

He twitched a little, scratching his head.

Then his forehead.

Next his arms.

Apparently, they didn't wait long enough.

It only took another thirty seconds before Drew was running around the lab, screaming his head off and scratching at the large, angry-looking hives that had appeared on his head and arms on anything he could get at that might have helped to relieve that itch. While Ramesh and Chen held some brooms up that Drew could use to scratch himself with, James went to get someone to help. A few minutes later, several staff members had shown up to try to calm Drew down and relieve the hives with a special cream they had developed.

Unfortunately for Drew, it took 6 weeks of applying the salve to his scalp, forehead, and arms to completely get rid of the hives. Though he did come to like the slicked-back look that the salve gave his hair.

* * *

_I thought of this a few weeks ago, but just finished the idea recently. I'm thinking of maybe a few more chapters. And I plan on reusing that teacher. He's Professor Steve "Sassy" Kwatch. Hehehe.  
_

_The compound RF was at number 78 in the episode 'Clothes Minded' and James mentioned that they got rid of the hives glitch. And how would he know about the glitch? I'm guessing a bit of personal experience...though he didn't necessarily have to be the victim. I picture Drew as being the victim of stuff like that. Poor guy can't catch a break._

_Yes, they do give tours through some of the more important areas like that; they do it occasionally at my school._


	2. Playing Hero

On top of a gray mountain that was made of wood and paper coverings in the middle of an asteroid (or, at least, what was supposed to be an asteroid) stood a man. He wore a cheap, form-fitting yellow outfit that had bits of even cheaper red plastic glued on. The slight beer-powered belly he was working on stood out proudly and the blood-shot eyes were covered by the red-tinted goggles he wore. A very cheesy, almost lame-beyond-belief pose was struck by the man, his laser pistol held heroically in one hand as the other one made a fist that rose into the air. He turned toward the viewer and said his famous speech that he gave after defeating every villain.

"Now that the vicious villain has been vanquished, I must return to patrolling the galaxy. For I am Captain Constellation, protector of all things good and decent. All evildoers in the galaxy beware, for I shall always be there to shield the innocent and right wrongs!"

"Rockets are GO!"

Five voices shouted the famous phrase as the captain did what was supposed to look like flying into space with rocket boots, but was a poorly-edited scene of him being lifted by wires up past the camera's range. However, this went unnoticed by the owners of the four voices that had joined in yelling his catchphrase. The excited fanboys had even raised their fists into the air as the actor on the television screen had.

As the screen went to the credits and the announcer for the station cheerily named the next show, four college students just sat there babbling amongst themselves the highlights of the episode. Their various sentences mixed together, turning into a mess of voices.

"Did you see that kick? POW! Right in the face!"

"The laser was better, though."

"What are you talking about? Those aliens were the same from episode 15, season 2."

"It is true. It is bogus that they keep using villains that have already been defeated."

The four of them sighed, their spirits dampened by the fact that their favorite show was starting to repeat itself. Then James had an idea. A sudden, lightning strike idea. One that could be pure genius…or one of the stupidest things they had ever thought of.

"Hey, Drew…do you think you could build one of those ray guns?" he started out, hoping that one of the others would pick up on the idea.

"Of COURSE I can!" Drew answered indignantly. "I could build something like that when I was in Kindergarten."

"And I could probably make a few rocket boots," James said as a smile started to eat his face.

It seemed that Ramesh caught on first. And didn't agree with the idea.

"I do not think so, James. You can count me out. I have an exam in the morning," Ramesh said with a yawn. As he stood up, Drew looked from Ramesh to James and back again, his face showing his confusion all too well.

"Did I miss something? James? Ramesh?" His paranoia was as obvious as his confusion. Getting slightly desperate when they didn't answer within a second, he repeated the question to Chen. Lucky for Drew, Chen had caught on by then.

"James wants to build some of the stuff from the show. You know, for our own sort of adventures," Chen explained. "I guess it might be fun. I mean, if we can actually get all of the stuff made. Otherwise, it's a stupid idea."

"You three have fun with that. I will be in my room sleeping," said Ramesh as he walked out the door. The last part he mumbled while he was walking back to his room went unheard by the three remaining members of the posse who were already making their plans.

A few hours later (and after a lot of 'secret borrowing' from the laboratories), Drew and James had finished building a laser pistol and two pairs of rocket boots. Even though they had already left the lab and were now in the commons area of the campus, the inventors were still looking at their creations like fathers seeing their newborn children for the first time. Or, more accurately, seeing a hot woman walking down the street that they couldn't take theirs eyes off of. This, of course, creeped Chen out a little, though he was the only one; it was nearing midnight at this point and they were the only ones there.

"Hey, dudes, c'mon. They're just machines." This got him glares from two sets of eyes. Coughing a little and pulling at his neckline, he amended his complaint. "I mean, we're supposed to be messing with them, not making googly eyes."

"Oh! Right. Yes. Well, I would prefer a pair of those rocket boots," Drew said in a commanding tone, actually reaching for the boots in James's hands. "After all, it wouldn't be fair to hoard my invention."

"If you get a pair of boots, then I get the laser gun," James replied, "because there's no way I am going to miss out on being able to shoot down the alien invaders." He started to make odd noises that could have sounded like a projectile being fired, but was more like him sputtering a little. Drew and Chen took a pair of boots while James was distracted and Drew threw the laser pistol at James. James, being the typical nerd, missed it by a mile. It fell onto the cement, clanking loudly and, unknown to the two giving disbelieving glares to the also clueless (and embarrassed) third one, a microchip came loose in the device.

"So how about we try these babies out, huh?" Chen asked. He was already sitting down to replace his shoes with the rocket boots before the other two responded by prepping their own devices.

"Ready? Those boots are voice-activated, so you just have to shout his catchphrase to get them to start up," James explained to his friends once they were strapped in.

"And that pistol works by pulling the trigger and releasing it. Like a regular pistol," Drew said, pointing out the trigger on the laser.

"Okay then," they all said together.

"Rockets are GOAAAGH!" Chen screamed as the phrase activated his rocket boots, surprising him completely. Unfortunately for Drew, he was close enough so that Chen's phrase activated his boots as well.

"Oh, snap," Drew sighed before he joined Chen in flying around uncontrollably while screaming his head off. They flew around the main square, unable to guide their direction or even control their speed. And when James makes rocket boots, James makes rocket boots.

"Oh…uh, sorry, guys," said James, his face broken into a sheepish grin. "I got so excited about making boots that could fly that I forgot to put in controls for them. Don't worry; I'll just shoot the engines out with the pistol." He aimed the pistol at Chen's boots as he blasted by, but quickly lost control of the laser once it had activated. The beam was only supposed to be used in short bursts so as to control the force produced, but the microchip that had been knocked loose by the hit on the pavement was the inhibiting mechanism, so instead of ceasing its firing, it kept going, barely missing giving Chen a shave that would be much too close for comfort.

"Watch where you're aiming that thing!" Chen yelled just before being smashed into the side of one of the buildings.

"I-I can't get it to stop!" James bellowed back, desperately aiming the beam at the ground. Unfortunately for him, the heat of the beam started the grass on fire. "Ahh!"

He tried to stamp the fire out, but moving the beam just created a trail of fire. James was starting to panic, realizing that the situation was getting out of hand. Then a large, hairy hand grabbed the pistol out of his hand. Surprised, James turned to find Professor Kwatch messing with the innards of the pistol, having just torn the covering off and tossing it to the side. He noticed that Sassy had the beam pointing at the cement portion of the ground, creating a slightly melted area but otherwise not doing anything else.

After a bit of poking and prodding, their professor had eventually found the loose chip and replaced it. The beam switched off, but not before Drew's boots had accidentally flown through its sight.

"AAAHHHHHHH!" he hollered as the boots shut off due to most of their circuits being reduced to melted bits of silicone and various metals, such as tungsten. His face and body slammed into the ground and skidded a little before coming to a full stop. A few seconds later, he jumped up from the ground, not feeling any pain because of the massive amounts of adrenaline that had flooded his system, and began pacing, his tone and body language being on the verge of hysterics.

While Drew was trying to regain his wits, Professor Kwatch took aim with the pistol and shot Chen out of the sky as well. Unlike with Drew, the professor managed to catch Chen before his face and the rest of his anatomy became very familiar with the ground. Stunned and messy, he didn't argue or complain when the much larger man set him down and dusted him off.

Once he had calmed Drew down enough to keep him from crying, Professor Kwatch herded the three undergrads together and gave them a stern stare. Although it was only for a few seconds, it was enough for them to feel highly foolish and small.

"How did you know?" was all James was able to say.

"Ramesh called and said you three were starting another project again. And I don't need to have what happened at Halloween to happen again," he replied, looking over his square glasses down at them. Drew suddenly looked highly uncomfortable and James blushed slightly.

"…did I miss something while I was at home?" Chen asked with a raised eyebrow, having noticed the change in the mood.

"NO! Er, no, of course not. Hehe," Drew responded quickly, his hands waving to emphasize the point. Professor Kwatch just rolled his eyes.

"Now then," the large man continued as he stomped the fires out that were still burning on the grass, "you three will go back to your dorm and you will not pull any of these projects out again. And there will be no more 'secret borrowing' from the labs. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," the three muttered reluctantly before trudging back toward their rooms. As they walked, Drew came to a definite conclusion about something.

"Never will I mess with rocket boots. Jet packs, jet boards, even rockets maybe, but never boots," he muttered somberly, his feet dragging from the lack of energy.

"Same here," the other boot victim added.

* * *

_I'm not exactly sure if they really said much about Captain Constellation, but from the things I have seen in the episodes and the way James reacts, I'd say that it was a total Power Rangers show. Or Space Ghost. But a Power Ranger in Space thing seemed funnier to me._

_It's slightly out-of-order for my own fun. And yes, I do find it loads of fun. Hopefully, most of you will find it fun as well. Reviews are appreciated, though not necessary._


	3. Friday Night Fun

"No."

"Drew, come on. It'll be fun," James begged.

"I said no."

"The rest of us agreed," Chen said snootily.

"I don't care! I don't want to make a fool of myself on a stage," Drew growled. He emphasized his disdain for the idea with an added 'harrumph'.

"Do not be such a party pooper," Ramesh continued.

"I am NOT a party pooper!"

"Then join us! Come on; the four of us cover the entire vocal range needed for this song," James uttered excitedly. "Besides, it's not like anyone else in this place knows the words. You can mess up and it'll still be good."

"Nnnrgh…fine. But you are going to pay for my dinner!" Drew stood up quickly and stalked toward the karaoke stage, his face slightly red from the hissy fit he had been throwing. Ramesh snickered, Chen rolled his eyes, and James got a grin on his face that threatened to crack it horizontal. The three of them trailed a fair distance away to give Drew a bit of breathing room.

They were at a small, poorly-kept pool hall a little ways off campus. It was one of those seedy appearing places that most people would avoid at all costs. However, this place offered something that had attracted the attention of two of the posse: they had an open mic night. And James and Ramesh weren't going to miss out on it.

Drew stood on the stage, his face twisted into a nervous grimace, as the rest of the group joined him. James gave their song request to the guy at the bar who grunted in response and went over to the tape shelf that he kept behind the counter. Grinning a little, he turned to tell James that they didn't have the song when James pulled a cassette out of his pocket. The man's face dropped like pins in a bowling alley. Sneering slightly, he grabbed the tape from James with a bit more force than needed. As James climbed onto the stage, the man pushed play on the boom box next to the stage, which was Chen's signal to start singing.

Ma-ia-hii  
Ma-ia-huu  
Ma-ia-hoo  
Ma-ia-haha

Ma-ia-hii  
Ma-ia-huu  
Ma-ia-hoo  
Ma-ia-haha

Ramesh started to sing along as well, adding his slightly lower voice to Chen's highly pitched yodeling.

Ma-ia-hii  
Ma-ia-huu  
Ma-ia-hoo  
Ma-ia-haha

Ma-ia-hii  
Ma-ia-huu  
Ma-ia-hoo  
Ma-ia-haha

In the short instrumental break between the words, Drew shot James one last disgruntled glare before he started to sing-speak his lines in his low, slightly shaky voice.

Alo, Salut, sunt eu, un haiduc,  
Si te rog, iubirea mea, primeste fericirea.

Then James took over, singing a bit more than Drew did while giving Drew a few nudges with his elbow and signaling like there was a call he was answering during the beeping part. Drew just rolled his eyes a little.

Alo, alo, sunt eu Picasso,  
Ti-am dat beep, si sunt voinic,  
Dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic.

Now all of them started singing, trying to match their words up to the beat, though Drew and Chen were having a bit of trouble; Drew was going too slow and Chen was holding his notes for too long.

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei,  
Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.  
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei,  
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai.

Ramesh and James started to dance while singing, an odd mix of disco and a two-step with a few turns and hip thrusts thrown in. Chen tried to copy their moves and Drew made a half-hearted attempt to do the same.

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei,  
Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.  
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei,  
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai.

This time, Drew actually tried to sing his lines and was starting to grin a little.

Te sun, sa-ti spun, ce simt acum,  
Alo, iubirea mea, sunt eu, fericirea.

James gave his friend a full-mouth smile and grabbed him around the shoulders, his unoccupied arm rising into the air in a grand, sweeping motion.

Alo, alo, sunt iarasi eu, Picasso,  
Ti-am dat beep, si sunt voinic,  
Dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic.

The second time the chorus came around, all of them were trying their best to match their voices and dance moves perfectly; it would have been okay if Chen hadn't gotten turned around during one of the spins and ended up with his back to the audience.

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei,  
Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.  
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei,  
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai.

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei,  
Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.  
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei,  
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai.

Chen sang with as much spirit as a dwarf from one of their role-playing games would have if he had access to the best drink.

Ma-ia-hii  
Ma-ia-huu  
Ma-ia-hoo  
Ma-ia-haha

Ma-ia-hii  
Ma-ia-huu  
Ma-ia-hoo  
Ma-ia-haha

James joined Ramesh in singing the line while Chen sang in the background, drawing out the final word of the lines a little.

Ma-ia-hii  
Ma-ia-huu  
Ma-ia-hoo  
Ma-ia-haha

Ma-ia-hii  
Ma-ia-huu  
Ma-ia-hoo  
Ma-ia-haha

Knowing that the end of the song was nearing, James and Ramesh egged Drew and Chen on to join them in an all-out dance, energetically swinging their fingers up and down in the classic disco move, twisting their hips in tune with the music, and doing the moonwalk with the synchronization that comes with being geeks with similar mindsets.

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei,  
Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.  
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei,  
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai.

Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei,  
Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.  
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei,  
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai.

Drew was still dancing a little, even though the song's final note had faded away. James's laugh, though, brought Drew out of the trance dancing. This time, his face was red from embarrassment instead of anger. They got a couple of claps from the few people in the bar and one whistle from a woman who was leering at Chen; apparently, she liked it when he had accidentally gotten turned around.

"Well," he started as they headed back to their table, "that was a lot more fun than I thought it would be! What was this called again?"

"It is karaoke. It is a big thing over in Japan," Ramesh responded. "My roommate made that song. I am quite glad that you two memorized the lines like I asked. So what should I tell that crazy exchange student?"

"Tell him it isn't much. Maybe sell it sometime or another or something?" Chen suggested.

"I might have to do more of this sort of thing," Drew added. "I haven't had this much fun since my Cousin Eddy redesigned the toy train for Hanukah into a steam train of doom!"

Little did they know that twenty years later, if a certain green villainess had ever found out about that night, she would burn the three that she didn't work for to a crisp--and fry her boss just because of the torture she endures every Friday as a result.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

_I realize that 'Dragostea Din Tei' was made in 2004 by the band O-Zone, but I just couldn't resist. It's the Numa Numa dance song, for anyone that hasn't realized it yet. I found myself dancing to it on the way to class today, and I couldn't help but to picture the MIST posse doing the same. Then I thought that it would make sense for this to be where Drakken discovered his love of karaoke. Poor Shego.  
_

_Karaoke was just starting to become known in the US around that time (mid-to-late 80s), and I figured a couple of nerds like Ramesh and James would keep up with the latest from Japan._

_I'm fairly certain that those are the right lyrics. I took them from one of those lyrics sites and it seems right; then again, I can't read Romanian._

_Thanks to kwebs and Samurai Crunchbird for taking a look at the story and thanks to the latter for suggesting the ending line._


End file.
